Another Look
by Lady of Gryffindor
Summary: Ino's POV- Sasuke kisses Sakura, Ino get worried about a possible relationship and Shikamaru talks her out of her Sasuke obsession all in three days. Pairings: Shikaino with Sasunaru


**Another Look**

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**By: Yamanaka Ino…With help from that Lady of Gryffindor person…**

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**Warning: **This story contains the pairings of **Shikaino** and **Sasunaru**, which means there is both **shonen-ai (boy/boy love)** and **het (boy/girl love).** :gasps: If you are offended by either, or both of these, please leave now! Oh yes, Sakura-Big-Forehead is in this story as well, so if she offends you…Read my, the magnificent Ino's, story anyway!

Summary: Ino's POV- Sasuke kisses Sakura, I get worried about a possible relationship and Shikamaru talks me out of my Sasuke obsession all in three days. P.S. I am so much cooler than Sakura-Big-Forehead! Pairings: Shikaino with Sasunaru

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Naruto! Someone…else does…-.- And as much as I truly want to say that I own Sasuke…I don't own him either. :grumbles:

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**Day One**

It started off as a good day, really! I had just finished a training session in which I had totally outshined Shikamaru and Choji, as usual. My hair was still perfect so I decided to go find Sasuke and seduce him with my beautiful personage. I should've known seeing idiot Sakura that day was a bad omen.

"Hey, Ino-pig! You won't believe what happened!" she had cried, joyously. Too joyously, I think. When that girl's really excited about something, I swear she sounds like Smurfette.

I was about to comment by asking if she had finally realized she would never get Sasuke and had accepted Choji as her only choice as a boyfriend, when something stopped me. I have no idea really, some little voice inside my head just started screaming at me to listen to what she had to say. I suppose it was because Sakura never talked to me unless it had something to do with gloating about Sasuke.

"What is it, Sakura-Big-Forehead?" I asked, trying to sound bored. In truth, I was insanely curious, but I would never tell her that!

"Sasuke-kun…" she started, and then blushed deeply. At that point I was worried. What had happened? What had they done? Was she…his girlfriend? I almost died from the suspense, and she just stood there blushing.

"Well, out with it!" Okay, I must admit, I sounded almost impatient…But that was due to the fact I was impatient! She shouldn't have dragged me away from my important schedule of Sasuke-watching to stand around Hinata-like.

Her eyes held an evil glint as she spoke the words I never wanted to hear. "Sasuke-kun…kissed…me!" She then laughed and started shouting insults, what they were I was too shocked to care. He had chosen her instead of me? The girl with the forehead the size of many islands in Japan? But wait…There might still be hope!

I looked at her warily. "So, are you two going out?"

Sakura proceeded to stare at her shoes. "Well, It's not official yet," I watched her sway nervously.

"Spill. What happened exactly?" What had Sasuke done, kissed her and ran away?

"Well, he came up to me all slow-like after our mission today and asked me if I wanted to talk to him. Of course I agreed, and we went off to this little clearing in the woods! It was so romantic!" Her eyes filled with little hearts. "Anyway, he looked at me sideways for a minute…and then…he kissed me! Granted, it could've been a little longer, but it was wonderful! He looked shocked for a second, but then walked off. I guess he was embarrassed like that _other _time when he almost kissed me. It was so cute!"

I looked at her in disgust. "Keyword: Almost. Anyway, you really expect me to believe that?"

I received a so undeserved glare. "Yes! Go ask him if you don't believe me!" So I went to do so, not even uttering a goodbye on the way out. As if she deserved one.

Sasuke was no where to be found. Unfortunately, when he wants to be alone he's almost impossible to find. Sad enough to say, I wandered around the village all day hoping I might bump into him, hoping to verify that Sakura had made her story up. I didn't see him all day, and went home heartbroken.

**Day Two**

It was some big holiday, so we all had a break from our missions. I was hoping to use this day to find Sasuke and ask about the…ehem…events of the previous one. With a lot of bribing, blackmailing, and other very useful methods, I concluded that Sasuke was at a ramen shop with… Naruto. At that point I had no clue what was going on. Was Sasuke asking Naruto for girl advice?

I rushed over to the window of the shop and peered through it. Sasuke was talking to that idiot Naruto with a very serious expression. Suddenly, said expression changed, and he started blushing and seemed to have trouble speaking. Was he planning to ask Sakura out, but had no idea how to go about it? And why was he asking Naruto, who had never had a date in his life, for advice with girls? I was absolutely confused.

Without warning Naruto said something quickly and hugged Sasuke. 'He must've accepted the fact Sasuke was serious about going out with Sakura.' I thought, despairingly. 'He was probably telling Sasuke lots of ways he could ask the stupid pink haired blunder out.'

All in all, I left the shop feeling extremely depressed. There was only one thing to do to help me figure this whole mess out. ..Call a meeting of the Sasuke Fan Club. And only one thing that would make me feel better…a giant bowl of chocolate fat-free-sugar-free-frozen-yogurt. Hey, a girl's got to watch her figure!

After I had my treat, I called all the girls together. This group included Sakura-Big-Forehead since I felt she was the source of the problem. Besides, I had to include her because she was vice-president. I held the position of president, of course. Would you expect anything less of me?

I stepped onto the giant stage I had set up before the meeting, Sakura behind me. "Hello fellow Sasuke fan girls!" I called out, quite professionally I think. At the sound of my voice, the huge chattering crowd went silent. Well, except for fan girl # 601, the crazy one who talked to herself at the back of the group. But let's forget about her for a moment and focus on me, okay?

"I have very urgent problem to discuss with you today." Sakura glared at me. "I shall allow_ vice-president_ Sakura to tell her part of the story."

She blabbed on and on about the kiss, adding things in that she definitely didn't tell me the first time. I had to stop her every once in a while to correct her. I couldn't let people think that stupid kiss was more than it was, could I? After she had finally stopped, I told the fan club about what I had seen in the ramen shop earlier that day. Of course, Sakura was squealing the whole time, thinking that Sasuke really wanted to ask her out.

"Any suggestions about what we should do?" I asked, looking over the crowd. They had the same shocked and distressed expression I had when I first heard the news. No one did anything, until…#601 raised her hand. Under club guidelines, I had to answer her.

"Yes, #601? Do you have something to say about this situation?" I asked. Inwardly, I was praying she didn't rant nonsense like she usually did when she was called on.

"You're interpreting it all wrong," she said dreamily. "Sasuke was actually telling Naruto that he liked him, and Naruto was accepting this and telling Sasuke that he liked him too. It's quite obvious, really. Those two have had a thing for each other for ages."

"Liked him?!" Sakura screamed, "Are you implying that Sasuke could be of the homosexual variety when he kissed **me**! I don't think so!"

I shook my head wearily. 'Same old #601, with her Sasuke/Naruto nonsense…' I thought. Though I also thought Sakura might've been a little too harsh. #601 couldn't help her craziness anymore than Sakura could help having a gigantic forehead.

"Um…" I decided to rephrase a bit. "Any suggestions as to what we should do about Sasuke and Sakura's relationship?" Luckily, or so I thought, #269 raised her hand.

"I think we should kill Sakura so another one of us can have Sasuke to ourselves!" she cried. "Sakura doesn't deserve him!" There were many murmurs of agreement. Even I considered this violent act for a moment.

#345 raised her hand calmly, so I called on her. She spoke up, "Listen everyone! If we kill Sakura, then Sasuke will be crestfallen and will hate us! I think we should do what's best for Sasuke and accept this relationship, whether we like it or not." Everyone had to agree. Even #269 eventually felt this would be the best decision.

The meeting came to an end. Sakura laughed and taunted me on the way out, so sure Sasuke was hers. I was sure too. It seemed like my world was coming to an end. Sakura had won…Or so it seemed.

**Day Three **

I looked awful. I had been crying all night, mourning the loss of a love I could never know. It was the perfect start to a seemingly horrific day. I really needed to find some way to calm myself, a way to ease my troubled nerves.

Once out of my bedroom, my mother, observant person that she is, saw that I was distressed and told me of a waterfall in the middle of the woods that was nice and secluded, that she used to go to when she was troubled. I thought about it for a while and then thought, 'What the heck.' My life was already in utter turmoil, what harm could a trip to a waterfall do? Missions didn't start for another hour anyway.

I walked steadily through the forest, moping. Sasuke was taken by my rival. My life was over. The world was truly out to torture me.

I heard the waterfall before I saw it. I also heard Sasuke before I saw him. He was there with someone, but I couldn't make out who it was. Deciding to be stealthy, I hid in a bush and peaked out, expecting to see Sasuke and Sakura. What I saw was Sasuke closing his eyes and bringing Naruto into a slow sweet kiss, then progressing to vigorously make out with the boy.

I immediately collapsed after seeing this. I swear I did. My whole body went limp, and I plopped to the ground. I simply closed my eyes, waiting to die, listening as Sasuke and Naruto jumped apart at the sudden noise, listening as they were discussing how to tell Kakashi and Sakura about their relationship, listening to them leave to go meet said teacher. 'Boy, won't Sakura be surprised,' I thought vaguely. I laid there, wondering what the villagers would say if they found out I died of shock in the middle of a forest. I just hoped Sakura's death at finding out the news would be a lot more horrific. 'Maybe she'll have a heart attack…'

"What are you doing sleeping in the middle of the woods? That's my job." That voice…I knew that voice. 'Ack! I'm in hell! Whatever did I do to deserve this?' I thought frantically.

"Get away from me you idiotic devil! I'm not supposed to be here! I'm far too beautiful and kindhearted!" I screamed. Then I recognized Shikamaru. 'Oh. Not the devil, but close…'

"What are you doing?" he glared down at me. "You are so troublesome."

I scowled. "Can you please let me die in peace? Go away."

He looked at me with a bored expression. "What happened? It must've been something for you to be late."

"It's none of your business," I sniffed.

"No, I suppose not. I don't really care anyway. Come on then." I shook my head furiously. "Look, you can either tell me what's wrong and we can walk back or you can be stubborn and I can carry you back. I really don't want to carry you though, because you weigh a ton."

"Fine! Fine! I just…" I had no idea how to say this… "I saw Sasuke and Naruto making out!" I finally choked out.

Shikamaru just stared at me. "Yeah, and?" I thought this comment was very inconsiderate considering my current condition.

I blinked. "That's it."

"Oh, okay. You're telling me you didn't see it coming? Even I noticed the beginnings of that relationship," Shikamaru said smugly. That made me realize #601 had been right the whole time…It truly made me reconsider her craziness. Still, though…

"Yeah right! This is the most unbelievable event that could ever possibly happen! They HATE each other! And it's not just that, I was so sure Sasuke was going to go out with Sakura! I mean he kissed her and all…Now I'll never have a chance with him! Why did this have to happen to me?" I sobbed. I was really quite pathetic. But what's even worse was what he said to me next.

"You done ranting? Can we go now?" I swear I was about to kill him.

"You can go! I don't care! I'm going to lay here and die like I previously planned, because without Sasuke, I am nothing!" I screamed.

He sighed and said, "Ino, look at yourself. Stop whining. Don't you want to prove to be more mature than Sakura? Accept the fact that you'll never win Sasuke's heart when it already lies in the hands of Naruto. There is nothing you can do about their relationship. Besides, Sasuke always seems happiest around Naruto." I gaped at him. He had a point.

"Fine. But I'm still not happy about this." We started walking back in silence.

I thought about what Shikamaru had said for a long time. After some consideration, I realized he had sounded…wistful. Almost if he had experienced this feeling for himself. After training that day, I confronted him about my thoughts.

"Shikamaru, you seemed to have experience in the area of being in love with someone whose heart belongs to someone else. Have you lost a girlfriend that way?" I asked. I wanted to console him to thank him for helping me. It's kind of sad how stupid I was.

Predictably, he looked at me like I was crazy. "No. I've never had a girlfriend." And for some reason, it all clicked.

"Shikamaru," I said hesitantly, "You like me, don't you?" He blushed and turned away. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"How was I supposed to?! You would've either blown me off completely, or wouldn't have heard me because you were blabbing about your precious 'Sasuke-kun'. Saying anything would've been too troublesome." Ouch. I deserved that…The worst thing was I knew what he was probably right.

"Um…Well, seeing as I've been remedied out of my Sasuke obsession, do you think you would consider…" I swear I had never been that embarrassed, ever, even in front of Sasuke.

He blinked, clearly very surprised, "Are you asking me out?"

"I guess…" I swear I was making Hinata look like an outgoing person. Sigh…

"Well then, I accept. So stop acting all embarrassed, it's beginning to get troublesome." I grit my teeth. If I was going to make this work, I would have to get used to that word.

We left, hand in hand. Walking aimlessly, we saw Sasuke chasing Naruto around. Apparently, Naruto had stolen his jacket. We also saw Sakura cursing the world and screaming violently. I walked past her, holding my head up high, happy that I hadn't turned completely into _that._ I felt enlightened, finally at peace with myself. 'Maybe this wasn't such a bad day after all.'

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Note from Lady of Gryffindor: Done, done, and done! Wee! Mr. Fic who was originally a Sasunaru fic morphed into a Shikaino thing…This is complete crap… :sobs: Why can't I write better? -.- Oh, well. This was written to reintroduce my two favorite pairings, Shikaino and Sasunaru! We need more of these! Fear this, and write your own better stories so I can stop writing!

Bleh....I'm not sure where to put this...Sigh...It's not that romancy, but it's not general...Oh well. Romance it is.

Ino: This was my story so shut up! Anyway, if you have any sense you will review my marvelous tale! I mean, I should get applauded for the effort. Sakura-Big-Forehead certainly doesn't write many stories as beautifully as I do! So review!


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